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Little confused here. Has the Pi project changed from "low-cost education computer for the masses" into "iOS-killing mobile game platform"?
[x] i mean the article, not the Pi project itself
shame the BCM2835 won't be open sourced anytime soon...
So far as I can tell, this significantly limits the hack value of the Raspberry Pi. Sure, it runs Linux... whatever version was current when it first shipped. Considering Ubuntu and Fedora both ship new releases every six months, a year and a half or two years into the future and what you can do with the Raspberry Pi will be limited to what outdated binary packages you can find, or what software you're prepared to co…
Earlier quoted context omitted.
So far as I can tell, this significantly limits the hack value of the Raspberry Pi. Sure, it runs Linux... whatever version was current when it first shipped. Considering Ubuntu and Fedora both ship new releases every six months, a year and a half or two years into the future and what you can do with the Raspberry Pi will be limited to what outdated binary packages you can find, or what software you're prepared to co…
I think you are too pessimistic on it's lifetime. Firstly, the foundation will likely continue to update the software. Most of the patches they made to the kernel are going to be submitted upstream. Even if the foundation doesn't do it, it can be maintained by the community. It's not infeasible to maintain a fork, although the work will increase with time. Even if it becomes stuck on an older kernel version, it's sti…
If the point of this thing is to promote computer science education, then it's already dead. Remember, not everything happens in userspace. For example, there are advanced operating systems courses out there that are focused very closely on the low-level side or are based on non-GPL-compatible operating systems where they can't simply lift stuff out of Linux.
It's nobody's loss but Broadcom's: the educators will go for platforms like BeagleBone instead (which, although more than double the price, is still cheap), the students will have the benefit of well-documented hardware, and TI will be happy that many of those students who grow up to work in the embedded space will be specifying TI (rather than Broadcom) SoCs.
The iPhone is highly optimized for mobile use. Both in hardware and software. Can the same be said about this chipset that the Raspberry Pi uses?
If not then the comparison is not very fair.
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I think you are too pessimistic on it's lifetime. Firstly, the foundation will likely continue to update the software. Most of the patches they made to the kernel are going to be submitted upstream. Even if the foundation doesn't do it, it can be maintained by the community. It's not infeasible to maintain a fork, although the work will increase with time. Even if it becomes stuck on an older kernel version, it's sti…
The community can't maintain the patches, thanks to Broadcom's policy of not releasing documentation unless you commit to ordering a hundred trillion parts or are employed by them (as the Raspberry Pi folks are). If the point of this thing is to promote computer science education, then it's already dead. Remember, not everything happens in userspace. For example, there are advanced operating systems courses out there…
The Raspberry Pi is designed for computer science education, but it's designed primarily for Children, not University Students. If you're at the point of running 'Advanced Operating Systems' courses then you can find whatever you need, but 12 year olds aren't likely to be doing that.
What they folks at Rasberry Pi are trying to do is encourage people who've never coded before to start writing programs. If they can write simple userspace linux programs (I'm talking text adventures and the like) that's what's important. The device isn't intended to replace ultra-hackable low level devices, it's just a cheap PC that children can tinker with without their parents yelling at them if they break the family PC.
The Rasberry Pi is anything but dead.
But does the Raspberry Pi run on a battery? The iPhone is highly optimized for mobile use. Both in hardware and software. Can the same be said about this chipset that the Raspberry Pi uses? If not then the comparison is not very fair.
Wow, that makes this thing a lot more interesting to me, if true. So many designs these days pair monster CPUs with underpowered GPUs it's almost embarrassing (especially as Apple continues to show that powerful GPUs are important for a good user experience). The 256 MB of RAM will be very constraining for any app trying to use all that power, though.
>"The 256 MB of RAM will be very constraining for any app trying to use all that power, though." My Archos 101 has 256MB RAM and runs Android suprisingly well. It only does 720p video playback though; full specs http://www.archos.com/products/ta/archos_101it/specs.html?co... . I'm not going to lie, it does tend to lag a bit; wonder how easy upgrading the RAM will be on the RPi.
Not really embarrassing, no one is comparing the power consumption. Apple could easily go to a more powerful GPU if their battery power allowed them. But I think the current 4S GPU is the one that fits for the current battery technology.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
The community can't maintain the patches, thanks to Broadcom's policy of not releasing documentation unless you commit to ordering a hundred trillion parts or are employed by them (as the Raspberry Pi folks are). If the point of this thing is to promote computer science education, then it's already dead. Remember, not everything happens in userspace. For example, there are advanced operating systems courses out there…
Whilst I would certainly agree it would be nice for the chip to be open-sourced, saying that it means the Pi is 'already dead' is ridiculous hyperbole. The Raspberry Pi is designed for computer science education, but it's designed primarily for Children , not University Students. If you're at the point of running 'Advanced Operating Systems' courses then you can find whatever you need, but 12 year olds aren't likely…
I'm sure I'm not alone in saying that my first exposure to coding was when I typed "10 PRINT BUTT 20 GOTO 10" into BBC BASIC. I didn't need anything more than the computer I had at school. The modern-day equivalent - typing "python" into the terminal - isn't much different, and still a lot easier and cheaper than getting something to run on an external Linux board.
RP sounds like a very cool platform, and I will likely buy it. But you're comparing Apples to Raspberries in this case since they aren't really similar. I will probably buy one, but not because I think it can replace the iPhone.
Why is the iPhone somehow considered the thing to beat in graphics? As a mobile battery powered device the iPhone compromises on all sorts of levels. If the iPhone plugged into a wall it could probably do all sorts of interesting things to.
Also, Broadcom? They are notorious with their drivers not being open-sourced. So I wonder if the RP source code is going to have a big binary blob in it or not. Because that would seriously affect my interest in buying one. Mostly because I know a lot of developers who wouldn't want to develop for a system like that, and that translates directly to the kind of projects you'll see on the device.